Of Candy Bugs and Children
by Shamaru009
Summary: It had been a close call, but somehow he had survived. Not unscathed, of course, but he was left alive at least. Now Turbo must survive alone in the world of Sugar Rush. But being trapped in the form of a cybrid comes with troubles and a terrible surprise waits for him that soon may just spell his Game Over.
1. Prologue

It had been a close call after what had happened at Diet Cola Mountain, but somehow he had survived. Not unscathed, of course, but alive at least. The reset of the game had helped to heal a few of the more severe injuries and wiped out the code for his King Candy avatar so he no longer glitched back and forth between forms. However, the reset had not fixed one rather large issue.

He was still trapped in the form of a giant cybug. Though now he stood only about ten feet tall.

It was an issue he could think about at a later time. For now there were wounds to tend to. Turbo didn't know much about how to patch himself up in his current form though. There were small chips missing from his left arm and spots on his back and one of his back legs had a long jagged crack running up the side. Would the hard candy shell repair itself, he wondered? At least it didn't seem to hinder him too much when he limped about. Limped, yes, because that crack in his leg did hurt if he put too much weight on it.

With a bit of exploring the cybrid learned that he had somehow wound up in a large open cavern under the mountain itself with a steeply sloped tunnel leading to the outside. At least it was out of sight of the broiling hot cola. Turbo wasn't sure if he would be tempted to jump into the bright source of death if he saw it.

Carefully he made his way up the sloped tunnel, staying just inside once he reached the mouth and listening closely for any sign of anyone nearby. Hearing only a scuffling sound too quiet for any kart Turbo peeked his head out and looked around. A few chocolate bunnies startled and hopped away, but other than them there were no signs of movement anywhere. The sight of the bunnies seemed to trigger something in Turbo- his stomach suddenly giving out a loud grumble.

Deciding not to bother chasing the quick chocolate creatures lest he do more damage to his cracked leg, Turbo squeezed himself out of the tunnel and approached the nearest marshmallow tree. One by one the soft treats were plucked from the branches and swallowed down greedily, Turbo barely registering the taste in his rush to devour as much as he could. When he had stripped the tree bare he simply broke off a branch and began munching on that. Just about everything in Sugar Rush was edible after all and it all tasted rather pleasant.

With his stomach no longer growling, Turbo glanced around. There were no tracks in sight, though now the distant sound of racing karts caught his attention. For now he decided to return underground. If the racers happened to find him there was no telling what could happen. And Turbo wasn't so sure that his code was still connected to the game after the reset which meant the threat of a game over loomed over him now. Better to stay hidden and not take the chance.

The only problem with being underground, as the cybrid soon discovered, was that it grew incredibly boring incredibly fast.

"If only I could still race…" he mumbled to himself. "Oh if I ever get my hands on that little glitch again I'll-" A sudden spike of pain in his stomach cut off his train of thought and had Turbo curling in on himself. As quickly as it came the pain faded thankfully and the former racer let out a sigh of relief. What had even brought that up? He couldn't have been hungry again, could he? Of course now with the cybug's code infused with his own he may have developed their own insatiable hunger. Suddenly the idea of trying to hunt down those chocolate bunnies didn't seem quite so bad.

But, no. He couldn't risk further injuring his leg. Maybe he could figure out a way to create a few traps instead. He would have to scavenge around for supplies if that was even to become a possibility. That meant going out in the open and trying to stay hidden from the inhabitants of the game. The safer option would be to continue eating the marshmallow trees of the forest and wait for his leg to heal. What if it didn't heal itself though? Sooner or later, depending on his new appetite, someone would begin to notice the forest slowly shrinking.

Maybe he should find a new place to stay too. Being so close to the same place that wretched glitch had called her home for so long could spell disaster if she ever decided to visit again. Turbo was sure that she wouldn't ever stop by since she had _his_ palace now, but the paranoia behind the idea made moving somewhere else seem much better.

So now he had to move and find supplies for himself. Not to mention staying hidden at all times.

"Alright, Turbo, you can do this. Keep hidden, find a new place to live, and gather enough supplies to make your life a little easier. Easy as pie. Ugh… And find something to stop these stomach aches…"


	2. Chapter 1

"Where do you think you're going, little guy?"

Turbo grinned as he caught the end of the red licorice rope tied tightly around a candy cane tree, the other end pulled taunt where it disappeared into the tall grass. The cybrid began to pull the rope toward himself and was soon rewarded with the sight of a plump chocolate bunny attached by a leg on the end of the rope. The little creature squealed in fright and tried to bite Turbo's claws when he grabbed it, not that it could really do any damage to him. Keeping a grip on his prize Turbo hummed quietly as he set the rope trap back up to snare something else.

It had been a few days after Sugar Rush's reset and Turbo was doing well, if he did say so himself. He had made a new home in the side of another of the game's famous mountains, Mt. Fudgesuvius, and had so far gone without much trouble. The mountain was quiet and peaceful with plenty of resources just lying around. Food hadn't been an issue either- and not only because everything around was edible. Licorice ropes were a simple way to catch chocolate bunnies and the occasional peep and a large almond milk lake filled with Swedish fish lay just beyond the edge of the mountain. It was really all the cybrid could ask for in terms of his needs.

He did wish for a few more things that might make his new home more comfortable, but the things he really wanted were entirely out of the question. At the top of his list was a bed- a real one instead of a big pile of marshmallows. Then he would enjoy more options included in his diet. Chocolate bunnies and Swedish fish were only delightful so many days in a row. His diet at least could be changed a little if he would only wander away from his hole in the mountain to explore. The only thing that held him back was his damaged leg. The thought of flying had come to mind, but there was a fear that came with it that he would be spotted from the air.

"Oh stop your squirming, you. I haven't even done anything to you yet." Turbo grumbled at the bunny still trapped in his hand.

If anyone were to ask the ex-racer he would inform them that this particular bunny was lucky. It wasn't going to be swallowed up just yet since there were many more traps to check. Instead Turbo had managed to create a small holding pen out of candy cane that he had set up in a corner of his home. Really though it wasn't so much a home as it was just a cavern carved into the side of Mt. Fudgesuvius by the cybrid's own claws, but he lived there so it was home to him. Anyway, the candy cane cage now had a chocolate bunny to contain and Turbo had more traps to check.

As he exited the mouth of the tunnel to his den, Turbo suddenly groaned and curled up with a hand clutched tightly to his stomach. That was the one thing he still couldn't figure out how to fix- random stomach pains. It was always blamed on something wrong with the combination of his and the cybug's codes. Turbo had yet to show signs of sickness and he had never once glitched, so he didn't see a threat of a virus getting into his code. Well, not a bad virus anyway. He didn't exactly count the cybug part of his code as a virus anymore.

Another thing about the pains that worried him was that they were increasing in length. At first they had come and then had ended within seconds. Now Turbo could expect attacks on his stomach to last minutes at a time. He absolutely hated it. And now with the pains unyielding, the cybrid dragged himself around until he met the edge of the almond milk lake. For some reason getting a drink of the sweet liquid eased his pains and eventually they faded away.

With a sigh Turbo pushed himself up into a sitting posture. Well, as best he could with his insectoid body anyway. Looking down into the creamy lake he frowned. "This is stupid." He grumbled. After a few moments his frown turned almost saddened and his head lolled back to stare up at the sky. He wished for company other than the candy animals, impossible wish as it may have been. Something that would actually respond when he talked with it at least. The idea of capturing one of the racers flitted through his mind, but Turbo banished it quickly. Stupid ideas led to stupid actions. The last thing Turbo wanted, surprisingly enough, was attention from anyone now.

"I'll just have to deal with loneliness for the rest of my days I guess. Woe is me." Sighing dramatically, Turbo rolled over into the lake and lay face down in the milk. Besides curing his stomach pains the ex-racer found the liquid to be soothing on his wounded leg. He had to swat away curious Swedish fish that tried to nibble on him though. Fending off the attackers was a small price to pay for contentment at least, he thought. Though he wished the fish weren't so stubborn.

And after a particularly hard bite caused him to yelp and lash out to spear his attacker with his claws, he really wished gummy sharks didn't exist.

Well, he thought as he tossed the blue and white gummy onto the shore, at least now he had dinner.


	3. Chapter 2

"Oh, that looks so much better!" Turbo crowed as he examined his leg. The large crack running down the side had begun to heal up around the edges nicely. It wasn't repaired enough to keep the limp out of his step, but the ex-racer could definitely feel an improvement. And besides his leg he soon discovered all of the smaller chips along his back and arms had vanished. The credit went to the almond milk- and his own greatness of course.

Speaking of the almond milk, Turbo decided that another dip in the lake was just what he needed to help speed along his recovery further. In his cheerful mood, the cybrid failed to completely take in the strange sounds that echoed down to him as he began to crawl up the tunnel leading out of his burrow. Luckily it was loud enough to catch his attention near the tunnel mouth and caused him to pause just before sticking his head out.

The sound was mostly shuffling with an occasional dull thump as if something had hit the ground a little further away. Turbo was about to mark it off as a passing gummy bear, but then something else sounded out and the cybrid's breath caught in his throat.

"What're we doing so far from the track anyway?"

"I already told you. Three times actually. We're out here because this is the only spot in all of Sugar Rush where the trees grow pink marshmallows!"

_They're salmon_, Turbo corrected in his mind.

"And why do we want pink marshmallows?"

_Salmon!_

"Well, we don't. But the President does. Remember a few days ago she was saying something about wishing she had pillows that matched the rest of the castle and hers are that weird shade of yellow?"

_Oh for crying out loud! Don't these kids know the color gold when they see it?_

"Oh, I get it. We're bringing back some pink marshmallows to replace the yellow ones."

"There you go."

As the two racers continued on their quest, Turbo was left hiding inside the mountain tunnel. If he was seen it would spell disaster. And judging by the shuffling steps outside the racers were moving closer to his hiding spot. Slowly the cybrid began to inch backward down the tunnel, careful to keep his own sounds to a minimum. Unfortunately that was the moment a rather nasty ripple of pain decided to lace through his gut and an audible noise slipped past his teeth before he could stop it.

"Did you hear that?"

"Yeah! It came from over here!"

Turbo's eyes widened and, fighting back the pain, he turned and skittered down the tunnel as quickly as he could. Once inside the cavern he began to look around wildly. He had to plug up the hole before those brats decided to crawl down the tunnel too. However, discovery seemed imminent as the cavern gave Turbo nothing but flat space and a few small cocoa rocks that would only poorly block a footpath. With no other options available he did the only thing he could think of.

"I could have sworn that sound came from down here."

"Yeah, me too! But I doubt anything could get past this."

Turbo held his breath as he felt one of the racer's hands suddenly on his back, hoping that his hammering heartbeat couldn't be detected through his candy armor.

Without anything else to plug up the entrance the cybrid had pressed his back flat to the hole- effectively blocking the tunnel, but exposing himself all the same. It didn't seem like the racers behind him noticed anything unusual about the blockage though. And it wasn't unusual to find large chunks of hard candy underground, so something colorful like Turbo's back could be dismissed as a jawbreaker easily. That was what he hoped anyway.

A minute or two passed with the two racers trying to move the "jawbreaker" and it took every ounce of Turbo's willpower not to jump at the touches or to turn and snap at the children. Finally, to the cybrid's immense relief, the two seemed to give up. He listened to their retreating footsteps echo up the tunnel, but didn't dare move just yet. Only after hearing the revving of kart engines go from loud to faint to inaudible did he move from his place.

Cautiously he moved up the tunnel, pausing at the mouth to listen. When no noise caught his ears he craned his neck up to peek out. Nothing out of the ordinary made itself known.

The ex-racer hauled himself out of the tunnel and dusted himself off to give his shaking hands something to do. That had been much too close. And now the question was should he leave and find somewhere new to settle down? Turbo snorted at the thought and heaved a loud sigh as he practically collapsed to the ground.

"Who would I be kidding?" he questioned the air around himself quietly. "Nowhere in all of Sugar Rush is safe for me."


	4. Chapter 3

_The narrow tunnel before him was dark, only a faint blue glow lighting the way from somewhere further down the path. Turbo moved toward the source of light at a slow pace, cautious of what it could be and what might lay ahead. He had no idea where he was, why he was there, or how he had come to be there. The answers didn't seem important at the moment though. All that mattered was following the glow._

_He couldn't tell how much time had passed when he finally reached the light. Extremely thin lines of code embedded in the walls were responsible for the blue glow. It was a shock to see code drawn so thin. Each strand seemed fragile enough to break if it was so much as looked at for too long. Turbo certainly didn't want to touch any of it with his claws. _

_Was he in a code room? If so, what game was he in? Most definitely not Sugar Rush, that was for sure._

_Turbo frowned and continued on down the path of code, noting that the blue lines grew a little thicker the further he traveled. The tunnel suddenly took a sharp turn where some of the code doubled in size gradually and the ex-racer turned down the passage to follow along. It was there that the tunnel opened up into a large empty room- if the code forming the walls was any indication. All around the code suddenly began to go from a faint glow to a bright shine, illuminating the room and revealing that it wasn't quite as empty as Turbo had thought._

_The cybrid's eyes went wide and he stumbled back in a sudden rush of fear. The tunnel behind him had sealed itself, however, so there was no escaping the form in front of him. All he could do was press his back against the code wall and stare._

"_Turbo! I'm so glad you could make it!" the smaller figure chirped in obvious delight. "We've been waiting for quite a while to see you! Oh we have such news to tell you!" A string of bubbly giggles proceeded to flow from the figure's mouth as Turbo continued to stare._

_After a long pause the figure frowned in an almost worried way. The gesture made Turbo's stomach flip._

"_Y-You…" he began in a shaky voice. "But… But you a-aren't real…"_

"_Oh? Then how am I standing here before you, hmm?"_

_Turbo gulped and shook his head, clawed hands raising to cradle around his helmet as he shrunk down around himself. "It must be a dream… Yeah, that's it. It's all a dream!" Suddenly he raised up, towering over the other, and let loose a barking laughter. "It's so obviously a dream! Because you can't be real!"_

"_And why not?"_

"_Because I made you!"_

_King Candy gave a little nod of his head and clasped his hands in front of him, his expression becoming thoughtful for a moment before that same sugary sweet smile took over again. "True, you did create my avatar. But I'm as real as you, Turbo."_

"_No! You were only a cover avatar for me! I was in control the whole time! And the reset destroyed you anyway!" Turbo argued loudly._

_But King Candy merely giggled again. "That's what you think anyway. About the reset? If that was truly the case do you think you would be stuck in that form?" He paused to gesture at the cybrid and gave his words time to sink in. "We simply got pushed to the back of your code where we can't cause you any trouble. As for myself, once you give a name and personality to an avatar it's just as real as anything. Is that not what you did? You created my avatar, gave me a name and a personality, and strengthened my character over the years. My life only truly began after the reset pushed my character away from yours, but these past few weeks have been so much fun! Even with so little company."_

_Turbo frowned at the giggling avatar and looked all around slowly. "What company? I don't see anyone else. It's just you and me in here."_

"_Ah, but that's where you're wrong again. Bugsy! Come out and say hello!"_

_For a long time nothing happened. Turbo opened his mouth to say something to his old avatar, but then a strange and familiar buzzing sound caught his attention. From seemingly nowhere the cybug appeared. It skittered across the coded floor and settled beside King Candy, towering over the racing avatar and pointing its glowing green eyes at Turbo._

_Turbo panicked at the sight and curled in on himself again. He didn't want to be anywhere near that creature, but with nowhere to go he couldn't escape. No one made a move for a few minutes. It was King Candy who finally broke the pause with a step toward the cowering cybrid._

"_Listen, Turbo. Time is running short and we have things we need to tell you." He explained. "It concerns your future so you may want to really pay attention. In only a few days-"_

"_No! Just shut up!" Turbo suddenly roared. "I don't want to hear anything you have to say! You or that horrible thing!"_

"_Really now!" King Candy huffed. "Bugsy is not horrible! She's nothing but a big gummy bear! Wouldn't harm a peep! Isn't that right, Bugsy?" He suddenly turned toward the candy coated cybug and threw his arms around what he could reach of the side of its shell, receiving an odd rumbling almost purr from the creature. Then his attention went right back to Turbo._

"_Look here, mister! If you want to run off without warning and get yourself a Game Over then be our guest! But we're trying to help you believe it or not. If I were you I would listen and listen good."_

_Turbo frowned down on the smaller avatar. The sudden urge to smash the ex-monarch under his claws came to mind, but he didn't act on the thought since the cybug seemed attached. He didn't want an angry cybug attacking him. Again._

"_I don't need to listen to you." He finally huffed. "You're not real. This is all just a dream. I'm going to wake up soon and you'll be just a bad memory."_

_Suddenly the code around them began to dim and half of the room became dark. King Candy frowned and let out a small defeated sigh. The cybug beside him made a soft noise of distress and bumped its body against its companion. The action caused the king to stumble slightly, but a tiny smile worked its way through his frown as he reached up to pat the sugary shell. His eyes turned toward Turbo, disappointment etched in them, and he sighed again._

"_Alright." He murmured. "I suppose you'll be going in alone without our warning then. I wish you the best, Turbo."_

_As if his words had been a trigger for the glowing code, the room slowly dimmed further without stop. Just before losing the image of the king and his insect companion, Turbo began to see a few new lights dully glowing behind them. These weren't blue like the code, but all different colors. The ex-racer squinted and tried to focus on the strange lights, but just like the blue code of the room those lights soon faded as well. Silence returned with the darkness and Turbo had a feeling that he had been left alone._


End file.
